Wicked Lord of Thessaly (Halcyon Romance Series Book 3) by Rachael Slate Read Free Book Online Page B

dashing to the side, she pressed her spine against the logs and scanned to ensure no one had spotted her.
    Guards scattered, their screams rending the air.
    She stole along the side of the cabin and peered around the corner to the door. One guard remained at his post, loosing arrows at the boars. She aimed her bow and released the arrow. It sailed straight into the guard’s chest and he collapsed to the ground. Eione strapped her bow over her shoulder and withdrew her blade instead, stealing inside the cabin.
    Darkness enclosed the chamber. No sounds of movement. Oh gods. She could not be too late. “Agrius?” she whispered into the empty space.
    Grunting and scuffling thumped from behind the door of the far room. She snatched a sword from off the table and smashed the lock, kicking the door open.
    “Eione?” Agrius’s pained whisper called from inside.
    “Yes, it’s me.” She darted forward and crashed straight into his arms.
    “ Argh. ” He groaned and she pulled back.
    “Are you injured?”
    “Nay, I’ll be well now that this arrow is out of my leg.” He held up the arrow, dripping blood. “You shouldn’t have come. Now, we’re both dead.”
    “No, shh .” After pressing a finger to his lips, she tore a strip of cloth from her shirt and wrapped it around his leg. “We’re both getting out of here alive.” She tsked at his wound and winked at him. “My wicked centaur, how many times do you have to be shot before you’ve learned your lesson about trespassing?”

Agrius blinked at Eione in dazed confusion. His head spun from the pain of plucking the arrow. The moment screams had sounded from outside the camp, he’d made use of the distraction to charge his captor, impaling him onto the table of torture instruments.
    “Apparently twice, but I’ve a thick skull.” He grinned, crushing her into his arms. “Pray tell, what’s happening outside?”
    “What do you think? I’ve saved your hide.” She smirked at him.
    “You saved me?” His heart thumped inside his chest, swelling with affection for this dazzling female. He stared at those full pink lips and couldn’t stop himself from sampling them.
    She moaned beneath his kiss, but pushed back. “We must hurry. I’m not sure how long the boars will hold them off.”
    “Boars?” He arched a brow, but she clucked, urging him from the cabin.
    “Long story. I’ll explain later.”
    “Right.” No need to convince him. He scooped Eione onto his back and sprinted from the cabin, through the meadow.
    Toward home.
    They cleared the tree line marking the centaur border. Agrius slipped Eione off his back, shaking his head in disbelief and elation. He squeezed her to his chest, pressing a firm kiss to the top of her head. Her sweetly scented locks drove his horse into a frenzy, reminding him they weren’t home, not yet.
    He claimed her lips once, for that was all he dared, and planted her on his back again, galloping forward. “So, boars?”
    “Yes,” she hummed against his ear. “Artemis sent them to me. She must approve of our match.”
    “Artemis?” He stumbled to a halt and twisted around, frowning.
    Eione shrugged but cast him a mischievous smile. “First, she granted me my gift, and now, because of my allegiance to her, she has saved us both.”
    “Aye.” He scratched his jaw. “Mayhap.”
    Eione kicked her feet into his sides. “Take me home, Agrius.”
    “Happily, Agrotere .” He winked at her and galloped through the forest. Each of King Cheiron’s five sons ruled over a stretch of land surrounding the King’s palace in Great Meteoron. Agrius’s castle of South Glen lay seated atop the southernmost Meteora.
    In his centaur form, the journey took merely a couple of hours. Before the dawn broke, he dashed onto his lands, galloping straight to the Portal that would transport them to the castle at the top of the Meteora. “Welcome home, Lady Eione.”
    She slid off him and he grabbed her hand, squeezing. He nodded at the guards